Disney vs. Savings

[captainkidd]

This will probably be a long post, and gets into personal beliefs I suppose, but I'm curious to hear what others have to say.

I've always been a "you can't take it with you type of person". I have a decent 401k, though not out of this world. My wife and I have very little debt (under $1,000). We continue to rent as we don't want to be tied into a mortgage right now. I've got a few months salary in savings (I know people will say it should be 6 months worth.) Lately I feel like I want to have a lot more money saved, however, I still want to live my life and take vacations. Anybody else have these concerns? I've always felt like God forbid I needed to, I could cancel vacation, and we'd have a quick $5,000. Luckily, that hasn't happened.

I guess what I'm asking is, how do you decide to spend money going on vacation (not just Disney I suppose) versus putting that money into a savings account? And how much do you feel is a comfortable amount of money to have in your savings? Or, do you feel that's what your 401k is for?

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

I count myself as blessed in that DH & I have always had good jobs (both of us work at the same place for over 35 years now), so we have pretty heathly 401K's. Only had one child, now 22, and her college is paid for. Not really concerned about leaving a pile of money for her when we're gone - we have lots of stuff that she can sell when it comes down to it. DH's parents both passed away within 6 months of each other, with his mother spending 3 years in a nursing home with Alzheimer's - just about every penny they had saved was sucked up by the home. So we do have the attitude that as long as we have enough put buy for emergencies, we're going to enjoy ourselves and the money we work hard for. DH goes to Montana hunting, and to Daytona twice a year for Bike Week. Our daughter is in Scotland studying for her Masters and I like to visit. Thinking about either a trip to DL, or maybe booking the WDWMagic Ladies cruise for myself next September.

All in all, I'm pretty comfortable with the way we have things planned out.

 

[disneygirl76]

This will probably be a long post, and gets into personal beliefs I suppose, but I'm curious to hear what others have to say.

I've always been a "you can't take it with you type of person". I have a decent 401k, though not out of this world. My wife and I have very little debt (under $1,000). We continue to rent as we don't want to be tied into a mortgage right now. I've got a few months salary in savings (I know people will say it should be 6 months worth.) Lately I feel like I want to have a lot more money saved, however, I still want to live my life and take vacations. Anybody else have these concerns? I've always felt like God forbid I needed to, I could cancel vacation, and we'd have a quick $5,000. Luckily, that hasn't happened.

I guess what I'm asking is, how do you decide to spend money going on vacation (not just Disney I suppose) versus putting that money into a savings account? And how much do you feel is a comfortable amount of money to have in your savings? Or, do you feel that's what your 401k is for?

Hey there, I totally get where you are coming from. My DH and I work work work and try to save as much as possible and recently, we have been through an emotional roller coaster trying to start a family. Some people would think that spending $5000 on a vaca right now would be careless. But we need something to look forward to. We need something to be excited and happy about and this is how we choose to spend the money. If you live for your 401K or for your savings account, you will never do anything. Sometimes you have to do what you want to do, rather then what you should do. And if you want to take a Disney vaca, then take one. :sohappy:

 

[nolatron]

We first start by limiting our vacation budget to about $2,000-$3,000 a trip just to make saving for it reasonable.

With a 4 yr old daughter now though, most of savings go toward her school so vacation saving got a little harder. I have a percentage each check go to my 401K, and then a two-three hundred a paycheck goes into my savings account. That's pretty much for school and our emergency fund. Between the wife and I we have a few months salary saved. We'd like it to be more of course as it seems when bad luck hits us, it hits us hard in the wallet too.

What I do now though to help with vacation saving is I switched from a Disney Visa to a Capital One Venture card to earn 2x miles. We charge everything we can to it (and pay it off in full each month). In the 4 months I've had the card I have nearly $600 to use for hotels, rental cars, airfare... anything travel related. Better than we ever got with the Disney Visa.

I also recently started putting my mileage reimbursements from work into a 'piggy bank'. Thanks to having to commute 140miles daily for training recently I dropped nearly $400 into the vacation fund.

To me, it's a good, easy way to save without really affecting what I put into our primary savings.

 

[Lucky]

We had been going every year but have cut back to once every two years to save money, especially with the price increases at WDW and the airlines. And we would never think of going without free dining or some other equivalent discount.

 

[devoy1701]

This will probably be a long post, and gets into personal beliefs I suppose, but I'm curious to hear what others have to say.

I've always been a "you can't take it with you type of person". I have a decent 401k, though not out of this world. My wife and I have very little debt (under $1,000). We continue to rent as we don't want to be tied into a mortgage right now. I've got a few months salary in savings (I know people will say it should be 6 months worth.) Lately I feel like I want to have a lot more money saved, however, I still want to live my life and take vacations. Anybody else have these concerns? I've always felt like God forbid I needed to, I could cancel vacation, and we'd have a quick $5,000. Luckily, that hasn't happened.

I guess what I'm asking is, how do you decide to spend money going on vacation (not just Disney I suppose) versus putting that money into a savings account? And how much do you feel is a comfortable amount of money to have in your savings? Or, do you feel that's what your 401k is for?

I think what I need is a separate vacation account from my savings. Right now, it's all one. I deposit money into the account literally every day. I pay for vacation from it, but I also make sure I don't go below a certain amount as I want that in there for savings.

There is no reason you can't do both (save for life and save for vacation that is). I actually do all 3 I guess... We put money each paycheck into a regular savings account, we put money into an account for our upcoming vacation, and we put money into another account for the vacation after that. I figure as long as the bills get paid and I'm able to put away say $500 each paycheck into regular savings for whatever may happen...then the rest of our money is free to do whatever with...so if we put $500 a paycheck into Savings, we'll put $250 into our Current Vacation fund and $100 into our Next Vacation Fund. That way I have all of my bases covered, and heaven forbid something does happen, I could always take that money from our Next Vacation fund and use it instead of cancelling whatever is already booked and incurring fees or penalties.

I also have an outlook that my fiance (soon to be wife...56 days!) has her own money and I have my own money. We each have bills we pay, we each contribute to the savings and vacations, but after that...I could care less what she uses her money for...she earned it and I probably don't want to know all of the useless crap she's buying...much like she probably could care less about how many trips I make to Home Depot or how much that 12" Dewalt Double Bevel Mitre Saw in my garage really cost.

 

[Philhar-Fanatic]

We also have a set amount that we will spend on vacation. We want to go to Disney every year so we follow the discounts and do it. We have never and will never stay at a Delux Resort because we won't drop that kind of money yearly on vacation. We don't fly we drive because the flying is just a luxury, the drive is doable so we just suck it up. The best thing I ever did was split our savings. We have one that we DON'T TOUCH and one that's for vacation. When I had all the money together it was hard for us to pull out of savings for vacation. Now that it's separate it's rewarding to see the savings grow and we get to vacation too! As others have said, it's all about balance. It's only responsible as a parent to make sure that you have money set aside to take care of your family in the case something terrible happens. We sacriffice daily because we LOVE to vacation. I cook almost every night because that $50.00 we're dropping to go out to eat is taking away from FUN time!! Believe me, every little bit adds up. You just have to be consistant!

 

[UPbeekeeper]

As far as saving, I feel like I should always have more, but we get by ok. I have my 401K through my job, not much but it's growing. I get company stock options taken out of my paycheck. We like to keep at least a $2000 Emergency Fund for unexpected expenses throughout the year and we have our designated Vacation savings. Sure, in a life threatening pinch I'd certainly use it, but I never really consider my vacation $ as savings $. It's completely separate.

My husband and I are in our 40's, our home is paid in full, and we are completely debt free. We don't have loans or credit cards. We live in Northern MI, which, although it is the most beautiful place I've ever been on this earth, has a horrible employment rate. We both have jobs, but they don't pay much, but without having any debt, in my mind, we probably are living the same as others who make much more money than we do, but have way more bills. It evens out, although we don't have the stress of paying those huge bills.

My philosophy is that you need a good balance. I scrape & save to take a decent vacation. I could use that money to go out to dinner or buy stuff I don't really need, but the vacation & family together time is more important, so that's the path we take. I watched my father work his entire life away and put all his money away for "the future". He died in his early 60's and never got a chance to really kick back and enjoy it. Enjoy your life while you can, but be smart about it. Tomorrow is never guaranteed, but if you are given that gift of living another day, the electric bill will still be due.

 

[captainkidd]

There is no reason you can't do both (save for life and save for vacation that is). I actually do all 3 I guess... We put money each paycheck into a regular savings account, we put money into an account for our upcoming vacation, and we put money into another account for the vacation after that. I figure as long as the bills get paid and I'm able to put away say $500 each paycheck into regular savings for whatever may happen...then the rest of our money is free to do whatever with...so if we put $500 a paycheck into Savings, we'll put $250 into our Current Vacation fund and $100 into our Next Vacation Fund. That way I have all of my bases covered, and heaven forbid something does happen, I could always take that money from our Next Vacation fund and use it instead of cancelling whatever is already booked and incurring fees or penalties.

I also have an outlook that my fiance (soon to be wife...56 days!) has her own money and I have my own money. We each have bills we pay, we each contribute to the savings and vacations, but after that...I could care less what she uses her money for...she earned it and I probably don't want to know all of the useless crap she's buying...much like she probably could care less about how many trips I make to Home Depot or how much that 12" Dewalt Double Bevel Mitre Saw in my garage really cost.

You sound a lot like me and my wife. Married for 7 years and we still have separate accounts. Some people think we're odd, but you know what - We NEVER fight about money. I make more than she does, so I pay for all vacations, entertainment, going out to eat, etc. We split the bills on the house, but we both know what we have to pay. It works for us.

Wow - $500 from each paycheck just into savings!!! That's awesome. I do about $300 per week, which is split between vacation and savings and I thought I was doing OK. That makes me rethink things.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

While I would be the first to say spend it if you got it, in this economy, especially if you have children, I would personally keep 5 months worth of savings for my family to survive if something happened before I would consider taking a vacation. If I had that cushion, then its game on, if not, it would be more important to have it than a vacation.

As long as its nothing morbidly foolish like putting a vacation on a credit card.


Jimmy Thick-Retiring at 43!

 

[devoy1701]

You sound a lot like me and my wife. Married for 7 years and we still have separate accounts. Some people think we're odd, but you know what - We NEVER fight about money. I make more than she does, so I pay for all vacations, entertainment, going out to eat, etc. We split the bills on the house, but we both know what we have to pay. It works for us.

Wow - $500 from each paycheck just into savings!!! That's awesome. I do about $300 per week, which is split between vacation and savings and I thought I was doing OK. That makes me rethink things.

I get paid bi-weekly...so I put away on average about $1000/month into Savings...and usually when I hit certain benchmarks ($3k, $5k, etc) I will take $1k of that and invest it so I have safe emergency fund and one that I'm risking.

Anyway...to give you some background on us. We bought our house at the age of 21 when we weren't making jack crap. As our lives and income have grown over the past few years, we haven't changed much at all regarding our spending habits. We figure if we didn't need it then, we probably don't need it now. So with the exception of vacations and a new car (that I needed because my 02 Maxima was causing more problems than it was worth), we live very frugally (sp?). We don't go out much, don't go to the movies, dine in most of the time, shop coupons, etc... We've been very fortunate when it has come to finances. But life was good when we were broke, so why complicate it with a bunch of stuff we probably don't need anyway and it allows us to put away about $1600 a month into savings and vacation funds.

It kind of sounds contradictory to the statement I made earlier that I don't care what she spends her money on and vice versa...but another reason that is the case is because both of us know that we aren't going to go out and buy a bunch of worthless junk. And yes, we too never fight about money. It makes things quite easy!

 

[Phonedave]

I think what I need is a separate vacation account from my savings. Right now, it's all one. I deposit money into the account literally every day. I pay for vacation from it, but I also make sure I don't go below a certain amount as I want that in there for savings.

That is a good idea.

My "main" account is a checking account. Money goes in - money comes out.

It pays 0% interest.

Then in have money in "liquid" CD's. They pay a bit of interest, but I can take money out if I have to with no penaly (but it invloves a trip to the bank branch)

Then I have my 401K as well. My only concern is that I don't have any sort of pension. Luckly my financee does, so I guess I will just have to live off of her when we get old

Seriously though, I like to have enough in the bank, so that I can clamp down the expenses and live off of it for a year. We just bought a house, so right now that is pretty close. We go through a lay off almost ever quarter in my company, and somtimes you get tagged not for performance, but because your job is being elimiated. Finding a new job with the same pay and benefits would take some time for me, so i like to have that savings just in case.

-dave

 

[Disnee4Me]

I'm 55, DH is 63, kids are 21 & 17. I am seriously thinking of paying off my mortgage, which would leave us only $10,000 left in savings (certainly not 6 months survival). DH hasn't worked a real job since getting early retired in 2004 ... has done some part time seasonal stuff. So should i clean out my bank account and then just put $1200/month back in every month, as if I still had my mortgage? Every month I dip into savings because his social security check and my paycheck do not cover all the expenses.
I do charge whatever I can on my Disney Visa ... up to almost $1000 right now with our next planned trip for Chrismtas 2013. so what say you financial wizards? Pay off the mortgage (therefore saving a lot of interest) and then start rebuilding. I do have $$$ taken out for my 401K and also a seperate savings accounts, so there is a litte cushion in my GE Interest Plus account.

 

[Mks95]

I'm a nurse and know what changes can occur. My brother also died at age 27 from cancer and that all has changed my philosophy. The kids grow up too quick and I want memories. I put all our bills including our car and mortage and utility payments on my disney visa or an airline one and pay on these every 2 weeks and do not go over so I don't pay interest. We usually have free flights and use the reward dollars as spending money. We plan our trips around free dining. My 4 kids sometimes get upset because they do not get the newest toys/gadgets and have to save for them (they usually decide later they don't need them anyway). We watch what we spend and I carry life and disability and cancer insurance. We put some in savings when we can. I plan 1 trip a year now (the kids are all teens) and wish I'd done this when they were little (instead of every 3 years).

 

[flynnibus]

This will probably be a long post, and gets into personal beliefs I suppose, but I'm curious to hear what others have to say.

I've always been a "you can't take it with you type of person". I have a decent 401k, though not out of this world. My wife and I have very little debt (under $1,000). We continue to rent as we don't want to be tied into a mortgage right now. I've got a few months salary in savings (I know people will say it should be 6 months worth.) Lately I feel like I want to have a lot more money saved, however, I still want to live my life and take vacations. Anybody else have these concerns? I've always felt like God forbid I needed to, I could cancel vacation, and we'd have a quick $5,000. Luckily, that hasn't happened.

I guess what I'm asking is, how do you decide to spend money going on vacation (not just Disney I suppose) versus putting that money into a savings account? And how much do you feel is a comfortable amount of money to have in your savings? Or, do you feel that's what your 401k is for?

You are asking basic financial planning questions.

What you refer to in your savings should be your 'liquid assets' for emergencies. Those funds are purely to ensure you can continue operating in case of emergency if something happens like losing your job, getting hurt, etc. Some people use it as an overflow buffer too.. but in the purest sense, this should be the 'break glass in case of emergency' jar of money. This is not savings - this is 'emergency, liquid, assets' you can use without taking penalties or time to liquidate other types of savings.

Having that is a good fundamental that many people do not have.. they rely on their credit cards as this emergency fund. But having that does not mean you are saving. Saving is for longer term needs.. such as retirement, large purchases, college, etc.

In the purest sense.. you determine if you can afford the Disney vacation by allocating all your recurring costs FIRST, and then put the left-overs in the 'fun' money pot. But the philosophy is to set what your savings plan should be, and then sticking to that as if it were a monthly bill.. rather than just saving 'whatever is left over'. Make savings a monthly bill... not 'what is left over'.

It's easy for people to skip saving regularly when there is nothing staring them down in terms of needing money for. A financial planner would help you determine what kind of money/income you need at a future point in time, and then work backwards to help guide you in how much you should save to meet that objective.

Savings should be invested in things that have a risk and liquid nature aligned with the timeline for that money. If it's retirement money, long and safe is fine. But if you need money in 5 years for college.. you may look at something more agressive/liquid.

So to directly answer your question... the answer is 'saving should be treated like a bill', not just saving what is left over. If you do that you will constantly be debating 'fun vs stiff but safe'. Fun almost always wins over stiff and safe

 

[Disney05]

Savings acct, what's that? I have a decent job but crappy retirement. We have very little debt unless you count mortgage and kids. Can't see myself retiring anyway but that's 20+ years away anyway. I live on tax choking Long Island. My philosophy is life is to be lived. I have a friend who is single, owns a big house and is the cheapest person I know. He could, God forbid, croak tomorrow and leave a big fat bank account. What's the point? Go out owing and have fun. Live for today, tomorrow is not promised.

 

[shmmrname]

It's horrible, but I know I probably won't ever be able to retire. So, for us - we make sure we can pay the bills and reward ourselves every couple of years with a trip. It might not be perfect, but I'd rather go now - tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

 

[BUZZCRUSH]

This reminds me of a conversation I had once with a doctor and his wife. The Dr was very practical and a little bit of a pompous ahole to be honest and we were debating his "value" in society versus someone who was a hair dresser for example. Or an engineer vs an actor etc. After going back and forth for some time his wife finally piped up and said that while his profession made life possible the hair dresser, actor, muscian etc. made life worth living. One would not want to live without that community.

My point is that while it's practical to save all the time, and we have 2 kids and don't have enough either, there needs to a reason for saving and living life. My husband and I work hard most of the year and the familly is constantly going in all directions. We view our Disney trips as the one time in a year where we focus on each other exclusively. We never go cheap on vacation or worry about it but we never go in debt for one either. If for some reason we can't afford it one year, we just don't go.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Well, for the 2nd time in my life I quit a job and went to Disney World within a month. Some people, I realize, think I'm crazy or at the least, completely impractical but I have my bills paid in full for 4 months plus another 3 months worth of savings. My trip is paid for in full so I don't have to dip into my savings for more money.

My reasoning is that this trip is the trip of a lifetime - I'm going for the first time as a "girls trip" with my two best freinds who have never been to WDW before.

Of course, I can justify every trip as the trip of a lifetime which is why I'm also going to Ireland this year...and maybe WDW again in the Fall :lookaroun

I'm a firm believer in that you can't take it with you. I tend to live for now and while that may bite me in the a$$ at some point. I'm comfortable with where I am now.

 

[flynnibus]

You can't take it with you.. but typically saving is about saving for what you WILL need.. not saving just to save.

If you don't save - you will NOT be able to retire unless you are one of the few dying professions that at least today have a decent pension.

So while Carpe Diem sounds great today... assuming you will always have work to make up for the next blow-out is not always true. Most people when they get older would prefer NOT to work and try to make enough to live. No savings? No chance

Most people would like to try to send their kids to schooling of their choice - that can cost tens of thousands of dollars.. a year.. per child. Paying for that without saving is harder than buying another house.

Saving isn't 'trying to be rich later'.. for most people it's simply 'having the money you need'.

But hey.. the country doesn't understand why the wheels came off the bus when everyone couldn't borrow their way through life for a short period.

Where do people think they are going to get money when their kids need things or they can no longer work at the same income they have now?

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Well, for the 2nd time in my life I quit a job and went to Disney World within a month. Some people, I realize, think I'm crazy or at the least, completely impractical but I have my bills paid in full for 4 months plus another 3 months worth of savings. My trip is paid for in full so I don't have to dip into my savings for more money.

My reasoning is that this trip is the trip of a lifetime - I'm going for the first time as a "girls trip" with my two best freinds who have never been to WDW before.

Of course, I can justify every trip as the trip of a lifetime which is why I'm also going to Ireland this year...and maybe WDW again in the Fall :lookaroun

I'm a firm believer in that you can't take it with you. I tend to live for now and while that may bite me in the a$$ at some point. I'm comfortable with where I am now.

I should point out that I also have no children and will never have children. This makes me having the travel bug a lot easier to act on. I don't have to consider anyone's future but my own. I realize that a lot of people aren't in my situation and that children are a huge factor in determining whether to save or spend. Actually having to save or spend may have a huge factor on my choice to not have children :lol: